Senior Social Development Officer at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

African Development Bank Group (AfDB) – Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries).

The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In order to sharply focus the objectives of the Ten Year Strategy (2013 – 2022) and ensure greater developmental impact, five major areas (High 5s), all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely; energy, agro-business, industrialization, integration and improving the quality of life for the people of Africa.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Senior Social Development Officer

Reference: ADB/19/069
Location: Burundi
Grade: LP5
Position N°: 50079244

The Complex

The Vice Presidency for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery is responsible for operational relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of the Bank Group’s operational programs, and activities.
This will ensure that the Bank operates successfully across its Regional Member Countries and oversee the full implementation of all aspects of the Bank’s Regional Directorates.

The Hiring Department/Division

The regional development integration and business delivery hub for Eastern Africa oversees 14 regional member countries and five country offices. The country manager who is accountable to the director general for the Eastern Africa region leads the Burundi country office.
The Social development Officer reports directly to the country manager, with technical oversight from the manager Agriculture, Industry and Human Development Division of the regional development Integration and Business Delivery Directorate for Eastern Africa.

The Position

The Social Development Specialist will provide substantive technical and operational knowledge and support to the country manager Burundi Country Office to implement effective human capital development programmes/projects for poverty and inequality reduction.

Duties and responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Country Manager for Burundi with technical oversight from the Regional Sector Manager, Agriculture, Industry and Human Development (RDGE.2), the social development Officer shall:

Lead and contribute in developing new projects and programs as well as manage existing projects in the area of human capital development, encompassing human capital and employment/livelihoods; social protection and youth employment;
Contribute to the enhancement of the Bank’s sectoral policies and strategies in key Social Development domains such as Human Capital and Skills Development Social Protection and Youth Employment;
Prepare studies and analysis within the framework of approved economic and sectoral programmes to identify suitable projects, policies , priorities and institutional issues especially in relation to Human capital, Social protection, youth employment and gender equality;
Engage in policy dialogue and provide advisory services to the government of Burundi on identified social protection issues;
Contribute to the Country Strategy Papers by providing socio-economic analysis to recommendations to strengthen Bank responses to human capital development and other key social issues in the region or country.
Develop partnerships with the private sector, multilateral and bilateral Agencies on issues relevant to the Directorate’s mandate.
Perform any other related duties required by the Country Manager.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

Hold at least a Master’s degree or its equivalent in Business Development, Social Economics, Economics, Sociology, Law, Labour Economics, or any related field.
Have a minimum of five (5) years of professional experience in human capital development sectors including skills development, social protection, and or youth employment programs.
Demonstrated experience in engaging with senior government officials, private sector, development partners and other stakeholders;
Demonstrable knowledge of Social Protection, Youth employment and other key social development issues as they relate to High Five 5: ‘Improving the living conditions of people in Africa’
Advisory and policy advocacy expertise;
Demonstrate a sound working knowledge of the operation of the organization as a business and the role of their business unit.
Possess good knowledge and experience in socio-economic development policy, labour market issues, workforce productivity and gender equality, preferably in the design, development and implementation of projects/ programs;
Experience in working directly in African Governments, private sector, CSOs, bilateral agencies, multilaterals and other stakeholders;
Demonstrate competence in operational and participatory development methodologies including perspectives on gender, youth and disadvantaged groups;
Strong quantitative and problem-solving skills and skill working with data sets;
Proven experience developing mechanisms and tools to accurately determine population vulnerabilities and utilizing the results to contribute to the creation of impact driven technical institutional support or programs/projects;
Write convincing and well-structured business documents and reports and ensures that all written communication is accurate well written and consistent
Excellent spoken and written in English; a working knowledge of French will be advantageous.
Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint);
knowledge of SAP is desirable